Calamari
by Crysania
Summary: Repeatinglitanies prompted: Belle is given a magical fortune telling octopus to take care of. On more than one occasion, Belle has to stop Rumple from frying it because the octopus breaks free of its tank to throw random objects at the sorcerer when Belle isn't looking


"Don't _touch_ it."

Belle jumps when Rumplestiltskin's voice comes from behind her. "I wasn't going to." She tries not to sound petulant about it.

"Of course you were," he says airily, waving one hand in the air before pointing a long finger at her. "If you know what's good for you, you won't go anywhere near it."

"What is it?" she finally manages to ask. Whatever _it_ is resides in a large tank that has come to take over a good third of the main room of the Dark Castle. The table has been shoved to the side, the fireplace is no longer accessible. Instead there's just a large tank full of murky water and _something_ moving inside it. She can't make it out, really. Which was why she was leaning toward it in the first place.

He levels his gaze on her and for a moment he looks serious. But then the grin returns, wide, maniacal. "It's an octopus, dearie." And he giggles. "Sure you've heard of them."

"I..."

"Nothing in your books about them?" He leans toward her. "They're dangerous creatures, my dear. Dangerous indeed. There's only one thing _more_ dangerous than an octopus." Here he leans down close to her. She can feel his breath fan out across her face and finds she's sucked in her breath, unable to breathe easily with him quite so close.

"Wh...what is that?"

He leans in just a little bit closer. For a moment she's almost sure he's going to kiss her and when his eyes fall to her lips she's even _more_ sure of it. And the worst thing is she doesn't even back up, turn away. But then the serious look on his face is gone and he says "Me!" loudly and walks away with a twitter and a little hope to his step. "I mean it, dearie, Don't touch it." The words are thrown over his shoulder moments before he disappears from the room.

She finally releases the breath she's been holding and leans up against the tank. That man leaves her feeling off more often than not these days. She thinks they're getting closer, sometimes she worries too close. But he's all she has for now and forever, so she's not overly bothered by the state off things as they lay. She just wishes sometimes he was a bit easier to figure out.

The tap on her shoulder startles her and she lets out a shriek, jumps away from the tank.

"Sorry," comes the voice she doesn't expect to hear. She whirls around and stares at the tank.

"You?" she asks. She must be losing her mind. Too much time spent holed up in a dusty old castle with a sorcerer.

"I didn't mean to startle you." The voice is definitely coming from the tank and she notices out of the corner of her eye a tentacle rapidly retreating back into the murky water.

"You can speak?" She doesn't know why this surprises her, really. She has seen _things_ since coming to live with Rumplestiltskin. Things both beautiful and terrifying. She's not sure what the talking octopus is here for, but apparently it's not a regular everyday octopus. Not that she knows much about them.

The octopus heaves a sigh. _They can sigh?_ "Do you think he would want me otherwise?"

Belle has to agree with his assessment. Rumplestiltskin had appeared from some deal that had taken him several days to get someone to agree to, suddenly in the middle of the room with the tank and octopus alongside him. "Probably not." There's silence for a moment. "What's your name?"

"It's unpronounceable by humans," the octopus responds with after a moment's hesitation. "But you may call me Stan."

"That's an odd name for an octopus."

"As odd as any, I suppose. I quite like it."

"Well, Stan it is then," Belle announces.

Over the next few days Belle finds herself talking to Stan when Rumplestiltskin is not around. Which seems to happen with increasing frequency all of a sudden. Stan says it's because he's working on a deal and the glum way he says the words makes Belle suspect that the deal is for _him_. Traded off to someone else. She knew he wouldn't be here long but for some reason it makes her sad nonetheless.

"So surely there's something he wants you for besides your ability to talk. One can't really travel the world with a talking octopus can they?" She doesn't voice what she's really thinking at that moment. If he were to find a way to shrink Stan somehow, she supposes anyone could travel with him. It doesn't seem like a good life.

"No there's more," Stan confirms. Belle is leaning against his tank when he finally confesses the truth. "I can tell your fortune."

Her noses wrinkles slightly. "What on earth would Rumplestiltskin want with a fortune-telling octopus?" He's already told her _he_ sees the future. Though she has her doubts about that. He _did_ catch her from the ladder, almost as if he saw it coming, but he didn't stop her from spilling that shrinking potion and she spent three days at only six inches tall, mortifying to say the least.

She wanted adventure. She got adventure. It just wasn't quite what she expected.

When Stan doesn't answer, she lets curiosity get the better of her. As she usually does. Another thing Rumplestiltskin has warned her against. "Can you tell mine?" She whispers the words, but the octopus hears them nonetheless.

"For you, anything." There's a moment of silence, and the water churns as he switches position. Finally one large eye is pressed up against the glass. "You will find true love in the next six months," Stan says and his voice sounds odd in that moment, hollow, as if he's speaking from a great distance away.

"I'm not allowed to leave here," Belle says in response. "You're not a very good fortune telling octopus, are you?"

"It's what the fortune says." And he sounds defensive.

Which makes Belle laugh.

"Didn't I say to stay away from it, dearie?" She whips around and finds Rumplestiltskin lounging in the doorway.

"You said not to touch him," Belle points out. "That's not quite the same thing."

He stalks a bit closer to her. "Him, is it?" He cocks his head slightly, holds one finger out to point at her. "It's getting to you, isn't it?"

"No," she says automatically, even though in a way Stan _did _get to her. She's wondering now. Wondering who might be her true love. Wondering how she's going to meet him while living with Rumplestiltskin. Perhaps he's someone that would come make a deal with the sorcerer, some hapless noble who would deal her right out from under his nose.

The thought actually makes her cringe and she can't help but wonder _why_. Doesn't she want to leave this musty castle? Doesn't she want to see the world? She's given Rumplestiltskin forever but no one but the octopus apparently knows what her future holds.

"Well, dearie, if you like it so much, then why don't you take care of it?"

"Take care…"

"Yes. Feed it. Take it for walks. Dress it in party hats. Whatever. Just make sure it stays alive." A bucket appears in his hand and he sets it down at her feet. She tries not to retch at the bloody mess of fish in the bucket. A ladder appears behind her. "Do see that you don't fall into the tank. Leather and muddy water do _not_ mix."

He turns to leave when Belle sees something go flying at his head from nearby. She turns to look back at the tank, but Stan and his tentacles are all safely inside somewhere. She can't see him. But what she _can_ see is a rather irate Rumplestiltskin turning back toward her. His eyes are not on her but looking past her and she breathes a sigh of relief. It's been a long time since he's turned his anger on her. She's usually met with amusement, sometimes a bit of sarcasm or scorn. But never anger. Not since she'd let the thief go and they'd returned from their mad dash after him.

He steps past her and touches one finger to the glass. "Now you listen hear, you giant slug…"

"I don't think octopuses are slugs…"

Rumplestiltskin just shoots her a look and goes on. "You better not try that little move again or it's calamari…"

"I think that's squid…"

He throws his arms up in the air at her words. "Or it's some sort of damned food with you. Don't believe me? I _will_ do it."

Belle just giggles as he stalks out.

"You don't believe him?" Stan asks. He sounds worried.

"Not for a moment."

She spends the next three weeks feeding Stan. She's _almost_ used to the smell of the fish mixture Rumplestiltskin leaves for him. These days she spends most of her time reading near his tank, keeping the lonely creature company. Rumplestiltskin finds it hilarious and often taunts her. Once he asks her if she's found her true love, though the way he says the words makes her believe _he_ doesn't believe in the concept. She gives Stan a good long look after that. Oh, she doesn't think she's destined to be the wife of an octopus. But he _talks_. And she resides in an enchanted castle with the world's most infamous sorcerer. She wonders if Stan is a man cursed into an octopus's body.

Stan assures her he's not.

He's really just an octopus.

And he's not her true love. Though he's not saying who _is_. Just that she'll find him soon.

Since first telling her that, he's given her lesser fortunes. She'll burn dinner that night (she did). She'll find the bookmark she lost under her bed (she did). She'll finish the book she's reading that night (she did). Though she suspects the latter was due more to her being close to finishing it and his knowing she likes to read late at night.

And she wonders about his first fortune. The others were true. Could it be? She still doesn't know how it could be possible.

It's on the fifth day of the third week of Stan's visit to the Dark Castle that Belle comes down in the morning to find him missing. The tank of water looks as it always does, but it's still. She taps on the glass and gets no response. Stan is gone and she never even got to say goodbye. Without even thinking about what she was doing, she storms up to Rumplestiltskin's tower room, entirely _not_ surprised to find him there already. She's not even sure if the enigmatic sorcerer sleeps and she's not even sure he'd _tell_ her if he did.

"You got rid of him without telling me?" She hates the way her voice sounds, angry and strident, but she feels a strange sense of panic about the sudden loss.

"Got rid of _who_?" Rumplestiltskin asks. He doesn't turn toward her, continues to add ingredients to the potion he's working on.

"Stan."

"Who the bloody hell is _Stan_?" She sees him looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"The octopus, you dolt." She lets exasperation get the better of her for a moment.

He finally turns to look at her and the look on his face can only be described as confused, incredulous, with just a touch of _what on earth is wrong with you_ mixed in. "You've _named_ him?"

Belle crosses her arms over her chest. "_No_. That's his name."

"The octopus is named Stan." The words are strangely flat.

"Yes."

He gives a shrug and starts to turn away from her. "Well, no matter. He's probably back in his tank by now."

"He's still here?" She feels strangely light at the thought. Her friend is still here. She won't be left alone for long hours while Rumplestiltskin toils away in his tower.

"Oh most certainly." He grimaces on the words and she steps closer, studying him. There's a mark on his temple and without thinking, she steps forward and reaches out, touching it lightly. Rumplestiltskin lets out a soft hiss and her hand comes away with a bit of blood on it.

"What happened to you?"

"_Stan_ happened, apparently." He sneers the words at her and turns away. She won't let him though, reaches out and pulls his face back toward her.

"He hurt you?" Stan has gotten strangely protective of her, but she couldn't imagine him hurting Rumplestiltskin.

"He threw things at me," the most infamous sorcerer in the world says and he sounds like a disgruntled child.

"Oh dear."

"Yes. Oh dear indeed."

"Do you want me too…"

"No. Just…go tend to your creature."

She steps back as he brings his hand up to his temple and heals the wound with a bit of purple magic. With a sigh, she turns to go.

"Belle dear?" She glances back at him. She finds more and more he doesn't call her "dearie" unless he's annoyed. She's become "dear" or occasionally "my dear" and she's not really sure what to make of that just yet.

"Yes?"

"Remind him of what I told him before."

She leaves as he lets out one of those damned giggles of his. The ones that she finds less and less disconcerting these days and more and more endearing. She's not sure what to make of _that_ either.

When she returns to the main room, the water is moving around in the tank again and she takes a deep breath. "I thought you had left without saying goodbye."

"I would never do that." And the words are serious, even if they're coming from a talking octopus.

Three days later it's a near repeat of that day. She comes downstairs and finds the tank empty. She's about to go up to Rumplestiltskin's tower when she smells something cooking and hears the distinctive crackle of butter on cast iron.

Rumplestilskin doesn't cook. _She_ cooks. And when she doesn't, magic makes it appear. She remembers his threats and rushes into the kitchen. She's not sure what she's going to find there, but Rumplestiltskin calmly pushing a pat of butter around a pan with a covered pot sitting on the table next to him is not it.

"What are you doing?" she manages to get out a moment after her arrival.

"Breakfast, dearie?" She's not so sure she likes the rather nasty tone of voice and certainly not the return to _dearie_. He opens the pot and one tentacle flops out.

"Stan!" she screams and Rumplestiltskin gives a little giggle. "What have you done?" She shoves hard at his shoulder, pushes him away from the pot that Stan is in.

"Calamari?" he says brightly.

"That's _squid_," she shoots back without thinking then turns back to the pot. "Oh _Stan_." She can feel the tears well up in her eyes as she looks at the forlorn octopus in the pot. He's been shrunk down to a tiny fraction of his size and he's not moving. She's not even sure he's alive, sitting in a small pot of water as he is. There's silence in the room until she sniffles.

"Oh," Rumplestiltskin says in response. And the pot she's crying over is suddenly empty.

"Wha…"

"He's back in his tank," he says quietly and she dares to glance up at him. "He threw things at me…again."

"Why is he doing that, anyway?"

He gives a shrug. "I don't know…really."

"You do." She knows, somehow. He has certain tells and the way he hides his face behind his hair is one of them. "What did you do to him?"

He sighs. "I brought him here."

"And…" There's more, she's sure of it.

Another sigh and this time he meets her eyes. "I took him away from his mate."

"Stan has a mate?" She is surprised at this. He hasn't told her that _he_ has a true love.

Rumplestiltskin nods and she's sure he's telling the truth. "Needless to say, he's angry at me for stealing him away."

"Aren't you…"

"No." He crosses his arms over his chest.

"You need to."

"No." He turns to leave.

"Rumplestiltskin you can't just separate him from his true love." He hesitates at that. She knows she has him. For all his pretending to be callous, she's seen the way his face softens slightly when talking of true love. She knows he's been trying to bottle it, has seen the empty spot in the rows of potions in his tower room. It _means_ something to him.

He takes a few more steps away, puts his hand on the door. "He'll be going back tomorrow."

"Back? Back where?"

"Home."

"To his true love?"

"To his…true love…yes." Belle rushes forward and throws herself at Rumplestiltskin, wrapping her arms around him. She's only hugged him once before and like the last time he's still as a statue at first. But as he sways a bit, his body goes pliant and his arms come up to briefly embrace her.

"Yes, well, don't thank _me_." His voice retains some of that impish quality. "I can't have an octopus who throws things at me hanging around the castle all the time, can I?"

"Of course not," she says, trying to fight back the grin that threatens to break out on her face.

"And you won't let me turn him into calamari, so what choice do I have?"

"That's squid," she says without thinking.

"Well, no matter." He waves one hand in the air. "Say your goodbyes tonight, dear. Tomorrow he'll be gone." And with that he leaves the room. Belle feels a bit lighter in that moment as she returns to the main room to bid farewell to her friend.

Stan is gone the next morning when she gets up. This time she knows it's for good. The tank has disappeared, the room set to rights. Rumplestiltskin is at his spinning wheel when she steps into the room and it's all so strangely calm, almost as if Stan's presence were simply a weird dream she had.

Belle steps towards the table and spies the covered dish there. "What is this?"

"Breakfast," Rumplestiltskin says, not moving from his wheel.

She uncovers it and stares down at the group of small breaded rings sitting atop a bed of lettuce. "It's…"

"Calamari." She stares at him. "It's squid, you know." And she laughs with all that is in her and invites him to join her in this most unexpected and odd meal.

She pours them both a cup of tea and as he takes his in hand, the chipped one that he still uses, he looks at her for a moment, more serious than she's seen him in a long time. "To Stan," he says.

She cocks her head to the side and smiles, touches her cup lightly to his. "To Stan." And they settle into a companionable silence as they eat their breakfast.


End file.
